that thou and thy people are in a manifest error. (76) And thus did we show unto Abraham the kingdom of heaven and earth, that he might become one of those who firmly believe. (77) And when the night overshadowed him, he saw a star, and he said, This is my LORD; but when it set, he said, I like not gods which set. (78) And when he saw the moon rising, he said, This is my LORD; but when he saw it set, he said, Verily if my LORD direct me not, I shall become one of the people who go astray. (79) And when he saw the sun rising, he said, This is my LORD, this is the greatest; but when it set, he said, O my people, verily I am clear of that which ye associate with God: (80) I direct my face unto him who hath created ployment was a very honourable one, and that he was a great lord, and in high favour with Nimrod, whose son-in-law he was, because he made his idols for him, and was excellent in his art. Some of the Rabbins say Terah was a priest, and chief of the order."-Sale. (76) Abraham. The story of Abraham as told in the writings of the Muslims is embellished by much that is of a miraculous character. The king, Nimrod, having had a dream of a wonderful child being born who should destroy his idols, commanded all the male children to be slain. The mother of Abraham, without exhibiting the usual signs of pregnancy, brought forth her son in a cave outside of Babylon, and hiding him there, informed her husband that she had had a child, but that he was dead and buried. The next day she repaired to the cave and found her son sucking his thumbs, and to her surprise she discovered that milk flowed from one thumb and honey from the other. In fifteen months Abraham had grown from childhood to the size and maturity of a boy of fifteen years. His mother then informed her husband of her deception, and took him to the cave to see his son. Azar was delighted, and immediately determined to present him to the king, which he could do with safety, seeing he would appear to have been born many years before the cruel edict went forth. The child, however, soon began to show his reverence for the true God and his contempt for idolatry. One day he asked his mother, "Who is your protector?" She replied, "Your father." Said he, "Who is my father's protector?" to which his mother replied, "Nimrod." "And who is Nimrod's protector?" said Abraham. His mother, being affrighted, said, "Stop now; you must not ask such questions; it is dangerous to do so." And so the story goes. See Tafsir-i-Raufi in loco. (77-84) This is my Lord, &c. "Since Abraham's parents were idolaters, it seems to be a necessary consequence that himself was one also in his younger years; the Scripture not obscurely intimates the heavens and the earth; I am orthodox, and am not one of the idolaters. (81) And his people disputed with him: and he said, Will ye dispute with me concerning GOD? since he hath now directed me, and I fear not that which ye associate with him, unless that my LORD willeth a thing; for my LORD comprehendeth all things by his knowledge: will ye not therefore consider? (82) And how should I fear that which ye associate with God, since ye fear not to have associated with GOD that concerning which he hath sent down unto you no authority? which therefore of the two parties is the more safe, if ye understand aright? (83) They who believe, and clothe not their faith with injustice, they shall enjoy security, and they are rightly directed. || (84) And this is our argument wherewith we furnished R Abraham that he might make use of it against his people: we exalt unto degrees of wisdom and knowledge whom we as much (Josh. xxiv. 2, 14); and the Jews themselves acknowledge it (Joseph. Ant., lib. i. c. 7). At what age he came to the knowledge of the true God and left idolatry, opinions are various. Some Jewish writers tell us he was then but three years old, and the Muhammadans likewise suppose him very young, and that he asked his father and mother several shrewd questions when a child. Others, however, allow him to have been a middle-aged man at that time. Maimonides, in particular, and R. Abraham Zacuth think him to have been forty years old, which age is also mentioned in the Qurán. But the general opinion of the Muhammadans is, that he was about fifteen or sixteen. As the religion wherein Abraham was educated was the Sabian, which consisted chiefly in the worship of the heavenly bodies (Prelim. Disc., sect. i.), he is introduced examining their nature and properties, to see whether they had a right to the worship which was paid them or not; and the first which he observed was the planet Venus, or, as others (Baidháwi) will have it, Jupiter. This method of Abraham's attaining to the knowledge of the Supreme Creator of all things is conformable to what Josephus writes, viz., that he drew his notions from the changes which he had observed in the earth and the sea, and in the sun and the moon, and the rest of the celestial bodies; concluding that they were subject to the command of a superior power, to whom alone all honour and thanks are due. The story itself is certainly taken from the Talmud. Some of the commentators, however, suppose this reasoning of Abraham with himself was not the first means of his conversion, but that he used it only by way of argument to convince the idolaters among whom he then lived."-Sale. 10. 16 please; for thy LORD is wise and knowing. (85) And we gave unto them Isaac and Jacob; we directed them both: and Noah had we before directed, and of his posterity David and Solomon; and Job, and Joseph, and Moses, and Aaron: thus do we reward the righteous; (86) and Zacharias, and John, and Jesus, and Elias; all of them were upright men: (87) and Ismael, and Elisha, and Of this account of Abraham's conversion it may be fairly said (1), That it is taken for the most part from Jewish tradition, as already shown by Sale; (2) that something of Muhammad's own experience is here predicated of Abraham; and (3) that, in Muhammad's conception, Abraham was a prophet in all respects like himself. And yet, according to his own claim, this garbled tale was received entirely by revelation from the Angel Gabriel-Muhammad merely repeating the words given to him. Was there nothing of imposition in all this? (85) The order in which Muhammad has here recited the names of the "prophets" indicates his ignorance of history, and clearly shows that he did not have access to the written Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. Of twenty-five prophets mentioned in the Qurán, eighteen are named here. His posterity. "Some refer the relative his to Abraham, the person chiefly spoken of in this passage; some to Noah, the next antecedent, because Jonas and Lot were not (say they) of Abraham's seed; and others suppose the persons named in this and the next verse are to be understood as the descendants of Abraham, and those in the following verse as those of Noah."-Sale, Baidhawi. The conjunctions make it necessary to refer the his to Noah. The attempt to refer it to Abraham was due to the declaration that David and Solomon were descended from Noah prior to Abraham, which the commentators desired to remove. Job. The commentators say he was of the race of Esau, but he is everywhere mentioned in the Qurán after Solomon, so that a suspicion at least is admissible that in Muhammad's mind he was descended from David and Solomon, or that he lived after them. See chap. xxi. 83, and xxxviii. 40. (86) Zacharias, like Aaron in the preceding verse and Ismail in the one following, is numbered among the prophets, contrary to the teaching of the Bible. It is rather remarkable that Ismail is placed at the end of the catalogue of the successors of Abraham. This is probably due to the change of attitude towards the Jews, which took place after the Hijra, from which time it became the policy of Muhammad to exalt Ismail, in order to please the Arabs. Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, is probably confounded with the prophet of the same name. And Elias. See notes on chap. xxxvii. 123–131. (87) Elisha, i.e., the son of Shaphat, whom the commentators say was the son of Akhtúb.-Tafsir-i-Raufi. Jonas, and Lot; all these have we favoured above the rest of the world; (88) and also divers of their fathers, and their issue, and their brethren; and we chose them, and directed them into the right way. (89) This is the direction of GOD; he directeth thereby such of his servants as he pleaseth; but if they had been guilty of idolatry, that which they wrought would have become utterly fruitless unto them. (90) Those were the persons unto whom we gave the scripture, and wisdom, and prophecy; but if these believe not therein, we will commit the care of them to a people who shall not disbelieve the same. (91) Those were the persons whom GOD hath directed, therefore follow their direction. Say unto the inhabitants of Makkah, I ask of you no recompense for preaching the Qurán; it is no other than an admonition unto all creatures. (92) They make not a due estimation of GOD, when they say, GOD hath not sent down unto man anything at Jonas. See chap. x. 98, chap. xxi. 87, and chap. xxxvii. 139, and notes there. Lot. See chap. vii. 81. (88) Their fathers, &c. This verse strengthens the statement under ver. 85. Muhammad had forgotten the names of other prophets of whom he had heard, and accordingly the spirit of his inspiration makes this very general statement. See also note on chap. iii. 34. (89) Guilty of idolatry. See note on chap. iv. 46. (90) If these believe not. Baidhawi makes these words to refer to the Quraish. They, however, agree with the teaching of the Bible in regard to the Jews, to whom they may very well refer. See Rodwell's translation. This passage may be quoted to show that the Scriptures of the former prophets were extant in Muhammad's day, and that they were not only genuine, but that Jewish unbelief was incapable of corrupting them. They would be committed to the care of another people. (91) An admonition unto all creatures, i.e., the direction given to all the prophets, and now declared by Muhammad to be the teaching of God for all men. We see here the theory of a universal Islám already present in Muhammad's mind. See chap. ii. 193. (92) They make not a due estimation of God. "That is, they know him not truly, nor have just notions of his goodness and mercy towards man. The persons here meant, according to some commentators, are the Jews, and according to others the idolaters (Baid háwi). R1 all: Say, who sent down the book which Moses brought, a light and a direction unto men; which ye transcribe on papers, whereof ye publish some part, and great part whereof ye conceal? and ye have been taught by Muhammad what ye knew not, neither your fathers. Say, GOD sent it down: then leave them to amuse themselves with their vain discourse. (93) This book which we have sent down is blessed; confirming that which was revealed before it; and is delivered unto thee that thou mayest preach it unto the metropolis of Makkah and to those who are round about it. And they who believe in the next life will believe therein, and they will diligently observe their times of prayer. (94) Who is more wicked than he who forgeth a lie concerning GOD? or saith, This was revealed unto me; when nothing had been revealed unto him? and who saith, I will produce a revelation like unto that which GOD hath sent down? If thou didst see when "This verse and the two next, as Jalaluddín thinks, were revealed at Madina."-Sale. If the passage be referred to the Jews, the meaning of the phrase God hath not sent down unto man anything at all is that God never sent down a book to man, as Muhammad taught, but gave the word by the inspiration of holy men. See Prelim. Disc., pp. 111-114. Which ye transcribe, dc. These words also show that Muhammad's charge of corrupting the Scriptures had no reference to the original text but to the practice of the Jews, whom he believed to have suppressed or concealed those portions referring to himself as a prophet. See note on chap. iv. 44 Their vain discourse. This clause points to Madina as the place to which this and the following verse belong. Muhammad did not use this tone at Makkah. (93) This book .. confirming, &c. See note on chap. ii. co. Metropolis of Makkah. This should have been of Madina, seeing the passage belongs there. The term metropolis would suit Madina much better than the then heathen Makkah. The clause following, and to those who are round about it, also points to Madina, for Muhammad did not preach to those round about Makkah until his unsuccessful visit to Tayif shortly before the Hijra. (94) This was revealed unto me, &c. "Falsely pretending to have received revelations from him, as did Musailama, al Aswad, al Ansi, and others, or doing as did Abdullah Ibn Saad Ibn Abi Sarah, who for some time was the Prophet's amanuensis, and when these words were dictated to him as revealed, viz., 'We created man of a purer |